Intermodal containers are commonly used when shipping goods domestically and/or internationally. Such containers can be loaded onto cargo ships for transport across oceans or other bodies of water. For land transport, these containers can be placed onto a trailer and then hauled overland by truck. Such containers can also be loaded onto railroad flatcars for transport.
Shipping containers can be loaded with boxes, crates, drums, reinforced bags, plastic wrapped bundles, cased goods, metal coils, specialty heavy paper rolls, plastic or metal containers mounted on pallets, and/or numerous other forms of cargo. Maritime and surface transportation regulations require that such loads be restrained from lateral shifting. In particular, a shipping container may experience significant movement as the container is carried by ocean vessel or by other conveyance. If cargo within the intermodal container is not restrained, it may shift and collide with a container wall or container doors. Because the mass of cargo in a container can be significant, such shifting and/or collisions can have catastrophic consequences for transport workers and for the public at large. For example, shifting cargo can be damaged when colliding with a container wall and/or be crushed by other shifting cargo. Damaged cargo can lead to release of product, which product may be toxic or otherwise be hazardous. As another example, shifting cargo might change the center of gravity of the shipping container itself and thereby cause significant problems for the ship, truck or other vehicle carrying the container.
Load restraint strips can be used to secure cargo within a shipping container. Each strip may be flexible and have an adhesive coated end that is pressed into contact with an interior side wall of the container. The other ends of the strips may then be wrapped around cargo and tightened. The wrapped ends may be tightened using a tool and method such as are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,981,827, which patent is incorporated by reference herein. A third adhesive-backed strip may then be applied over the tightened ends to secure those ends together. This procedure may be repeated numerous times inside a single shipping container.
There are various known types of restraining strips. Such strips typically include a backing and some form of reinforcement. Examples of known strips are described in one or more of U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,089,802, 6,227,779, 6,607,337, 6,896,459, 6,923,609, 7,018,151, 7,066,698, 7,290,969, 7,329,074, 8,113,752, 8,128,324, 8,403,607, 8,403,608, 8,403,609, 8,408,852, 8,419,329, 8,979,449, and 9,090,194.